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An Ugly Incident In Central African Republic

(posted March 21, 2005)

An unfortunate shooting incident has occurred in Central African Republic, and I felt it was important to get word of it out right away, as it comes on the heels of an important Presidential election which has already heightened concern about this West African country. Suffice it to say, the shooting incident was an isolated event that had nothing to do with the recent election. On that front, things are calm in Bangui, and hunts are proceeding normally across the country. I would have no qualms personally about boarding a plane for Central African Republic today.

As for the shooting incident, it occurred in the Aouk-Sangha hunting block on the border of Chad, where operators have been having problems with cattle herders. The run-in sounds very similar to an incident in Chad two years ago that left PH Alain Lefol injured and resulted in him being jailed for a time before being cleared of all wrongdoing.

We are indebted to PH Boetie Bothma for the following account of the shooting:

"I just had a very unfortunate incident occur in one of my hunting blocks yesterday, Friday March 18, 2005. One of my PHs - Craigh Hamman - was shot by Chadian cattle herdsmen. He was shot through the right hand and arm with an AK47. Although his wounds were severe (not life threatening), I managed to fly him to Bangui and consequently arranged an emergency charter from South Africa to evacuate him to Johannesburg for reconstructive surgery to his hand. The prognosis appears to be positive at this time.

"As you can imagine, news of this kind could have dire consequences, not only for Aouk Sangha Safaris, but for the hunting industry in CAR as a whole! Therefore, I want to explain the whole event to you in detail….

"Illegal cattle herding in hunting concessions in this part of the world (CAR and Chad), has been a problem for the last 25 years. You'll recall the Alain Lefol incident in Chad two years ago. As the CAR government does not have the resources to protect its international boundaries, it is left up to safari operators to control this problem. In my case, one of my concession boundaries is the Aouk River, which also serves as the international boundary between CAR and Chad.

"I have an official letter from the Wildlife Department in Bangui authorizing me to shoot Chadian cattle on sight. Indeed, during the course of a hunting season in the savannah, we do periodically have to shoot cattle in order to control the problem and remind the Chadian herdsmen of their boundary obligations. As you can imagine, this has become a 'cat and mouse' game between us and them, with us shooting their cattle and them racing for the Aouk River and safe haven in Chad - which is where they belong in the first place!

"So, on the day of Craigh's unfortunate incidence, he left camp as usual to hunt along the Aouk River, where he found Chadian herdsmen had just entered CAR. As usual, he shot a few cattle and, in parting, fired a round beside one of the herdsmen on the ground. Herein lies the problem, as we usually fire in the air to send them on their way. The herdsmen apparently mistook this parting shot as a direct assault and turned around, unveiling an assault rifle. He immediately fired back. Unfortunately for Craigh, a stray bullet wounded him.

"As for the clients we had on safari, (names withheld), they are old friends, and they handled the whole incident with remarkable calm. Being the gentlemen that they are, they assured me that as far as they were concerned this unfortunate incident never happened and will not be made public by them. However, as you well know, an incident of this nature will become public knowledge in the next 72 hours. It is therefore in good faith that, as a responsible and ethical operator, I wanted to inform you and trust that you will use this information - as you always do - in such a manner to your subscribers as to be fair to me and Aouk Sangha Safaris…."

The good news is, as the above was being edited, a new e-mail came in from Bothma, and he said he had just returned from a meeting with Chadian officials responsible for security in his area. "They assured me that appropriate action would be taken on their side. They also think they know who the perpetrator is, and they feel confident that they will have him in custody soon. Meanwhile, since I reported the incident, there have been no cattle or people to be seen anywhere on the CAR side. There has been a mass exodus…."

Bothma concluded his note with an appeal for calm among booked and would-be hunting clients. "Please remind subscribers that an incident like this has not happened here in 20 years. It is an isolated, spur-of-the-moment incident. The Chadian probably fired back out of simple frustration. I have a wife and three sons in South Africa, and I would not be here if I thought CAR was unsafe."

We think the above speaks for itself. We applaud Bothma for volunteering a full account of the incident. We urge booked clients and would-be clients to hold firm. CAR is a great hunting destination. Time and finances permitting I would personally be on my way there tomorrow. - Don Causey, Editor/Publisher.

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